The present invention relates in general to an apparatus for dispensing fertilizer or other material in the care and maintenance of lawns.
It has been the practice for the homeowner to use a lawnmower for cutting the grass and then use a separate machine or other device for spreading fertilizer. Such use of multiple, single-purpose machines is economically inefficient and time-consuming. A single machine, or combination of machines, which could perform the same functions with one application would increase efficiency and reduce the amount of time needed to mow and fertilize a lawn.
Numerous attempts have been made to solve the inefficiencies of lawn care by mowing and fertilizing at one and the same time. The prior art has dealt principally with the formulation of dual-purpose machines which by and large are just as uneconomical as the multiple single-purpose machines for the same work to be done. What has been needed in the industry is a simple yet reliable apparatus which can be quickly and easily mounted on a lawnmower, which would allow application of fertilizers at the same time as the lawn is being mowed.
The present invention satisfies these parameters by being attachable to any handlebar-type lawnmower which has a minimum of one cross-brace on the handlebars. As a simple attachment, it can be designed to have universal application to all handlebar-type lawnmowers and thereby reduce its cost considerably.
This invention also promises to save the home lawn and garden do-it-yourselfer valuable time. A device that dispenses fertilizer over the lawn at the same time grass is being mowed saves the operator the burden of re-traversing the lawn a second time.
This invention also represents an improvement over the prior art in that it applies the fertilizer in a manner most suited to the needs of the typical homeowner. This is because the spreader applies fertilizer immediately behind the lawnmower, and thus allows the operator of the lawnmower to control the areas of the lawn which receive an application of fertilizer and to be certain of the areas of the lawn which have been fertilized.